The art of securing articles to be protected ("protected articles") to a substrate body has been an active one, especially since the advent of relatively costly, relatively small products such as computers and calculators. Well-known systems for such a function are shown in Gassaway patents U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,850,392 and 4,634,009. This system is characterized by a base plate held to a substrate body, usually by means of an adhesive pad. Then the protected article is mounted directly or by means of a second plate to which it is fastened (U.S. Pat. No. 3,850,392), or is trapped in surrounding structure which in turn is attached to the base plate (U.S. Pat. No. 4,634,009).
The existing systems, and others, function well on relatively rigid horizontal substrates. However, many newer computers are too large to be placed on a desk top, and are unsuited to be placed on the floor. The proper place to mount them is on a side wall which is vertical. A problem with many or even most of these substrate bodies is that they are often relatively thin and flexible, because they were not designed as load-supporting structures. Instead they were provided primarily for appearance or modesty. Still they do have adequate strength to support the protected article, and it becomes the problem of the security mount to conform to the other limitations of the substrate body while performing its own function of protection.
At the same time, the absolute and relative cost of the protected article must be compared to the cost of a security mount to protect it. Obviously a security mount that costs as much as the protected article is rarely economically justifiable.
Also, absolute invulnerability cannot as a practical matter be provided. Given sufficient time, patience, and tools, practically any mounting means can be overcome. The thief's problems are a shortage of time, and the desire not be be encumbered excessively by tools and equipment. A crowbar is his primary tool and about five minutes is his effective time span. The objective of a successful security mount is suitably to delay a thief, to require inconvenient tools, or to cause him to damage the protected article so it cannot be fenced. Any of the these will frustrate a practical thief.
An interesting situation arises in the mounting and protection of articles such as are contemplated to be protected by this invention. Merely to hold the article reliably to a substrate body does not require much strength. Often these articles will weigh less than 50 pounds, for example. A few screws or bolts will generously attend to the structural requirement. However, a thief with skillful use of a crowbar, can readily exert hundreds of pounds of localized force, but not for long. A successful mount will have to resist these "spike" forces.
Further with regard to the usual substrate material, such as a metal desk side, these tend to be somewhat flexible, and are liable to vibrate noisily, and also to deform wavily, or as an oil-can when a running device is attached to it. A suitable security mount must not contribute to the noise, and should assist in stabilizing the substrate.
It is an object of this invention to provide a security mount that reliably supports a protected article on a vertical surface, and secures it against ready removal by unauthorized means. Also, it is easily installed, the protected article can readily be installed and removed, and the mount is adaptable to receive articles of widely differing dimensions.
It is another object of this invention to extend the usefulness of the system shown in Gassaway patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,634,009, by providing all of the retention features on the mount itself, without requiring the attachment of anything to the protected article for retention.
It is another object of this invention to extend the effectiveness of the system shown in Gassaway patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,634,009 where used on furniture of lesser quality, for example on veneered furniture which can readily, easily be delaminated.